


The Blind Banker

by lindaflower35



Series: Sherlock [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 06:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16948623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lindaflower35/pseuds/lindaflower35





	1. Chapter 1

You and John were at the market, buying groceries, and when you were headed for the checkout. You got in line for the cashier, but John kept walking.

“Where are you going?” you asked, making him turn around.

“Hmm?… checking out. You?” he asked.

“… Same thing,” you replied.

“Self-checkout is faster,” he said, furrowing his brows.

“Uh, cashier’s easier,” you said with sass.

“No, it isn’t,” John argued.

A thought came to your mind. “Quick race? See which is faster?” you asked with a mischievous smile on your face.

John thought for a moment before answering, “Okay,” and he rushed to the machines.

 

You finished paying and was waiting for John, but you saw that he was having difficulties scanning and paying the groceries until he decided to leave the items and walked over to you.

“Sorry,” you said, feeling bad about him. An idea came to your mind, “I’ll pay for it,” you offered.

“What? No,” John replied, “no, (Y/N), I can’t ask you to do that.”

“No, John, it’s fine,” you insisted, “really; what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help another friend out?”

John stood there, thinking for a minute, before he accepted your help. The two of you went back to recollect his groceries.

When the two of you went to the self-checkout, John scanned the items, there were times where the item didn’t pass through and you helped out, making things go quicker, and you paid everything, with cash. _‘Most effective than paying with a card,’_ you told John as you inserted the cash, received your change and took the receipt.

“I win,” you spoke again as the two of you walked to the exit and head back to Baker Street. John thanked you and you told him that it was no problem.

 

After you came back and store your groceries away quickly since you only had one bag, while John had four bags, you went upstairs and heard John explaining to Sherlock about what happened in the market.

“...It sat there and I shouted abuse,” you heard him say as you could hear the rustling of the bags, indicating he was taking the things out.

“Then, before me and John left, I offered to pay your groceries, but since John left the checkout line, we had to go back and get the items again,” you jumped in as you entered the flat, making both men look at you, “So, you’re welcome and John, don’t worry about paying me back,” you turned to him, kindly smiling.

John smiled in return as he continued putting things away. You turned to Sherlock, seeing him on the computer, a computer that wasn’t his. You, then, noticed something under his black chair.

“You could always go yourself, you know, you’ve been sitting there all morning,” John spoke from the kitchen as you realize what was under Sherlock’s chair, “and what happened about that case you were offered, the Jaria diamond?” he continued.

“Not interested. I sent them a message,” Sherlock replied as you placed your hand on your forehand.

“Is that my computer?” John asked as he turn around, finished with putting the items away. He didn’t realize until now.

“Of course,” Sherlock answered.

“What?”

“Mine was in the bedroom,” Sherlock simply replied as he typed.

“What? And you couldn’t be bothered to get up?” John asked annoyed as he took off his coat. “It’s password protected,” he stated.

“In a manner of speaking. Took me less than a minute to guess yours, not exactly Fort Knox,” Sherlock said.

“Right. Thank you,” John spoke upsetly as he closed and snatched his laptop from Sherlock.

Sherlock blinked and just sat there, staring at the wall. You sat in the black chair as John sat on the red chair and looked at the ‘Final Notice’ papers.

“Need to get a job,” he said

“Oh, dull,” Sherlock just said as he still stared at the wall, thinking. An awkward silence fell between the three of you.

“Listen, um…” John spoke, “If you’d be able to lend me some… Sherlock, are you listening?” he asked.

“I need to go to the bank,” Sherlock said after a moment and headed out. You and John stood up after him and followed him.

 

~ ~ ~

The three of you arrived at a building. You entered through the spinning doors and was amazed at how big and spacious it was, but you quickly catched up with Sherlock.

“Yes, when you said we were going to the bank…” he said to himself while you and Sherlock were already on the escalator.

When you arrived at the front desk, Sherlock gave his name to the receptionist. Then, the three of you were shown to an office. A man entered soon after.

“Sherlock Holmes,” he said as he came into the room.

“Sebastian,” Sherlock said as they shook hands.

“Hiya, buddy. How long has it been, eight years since I last clapped eyes in you?” the man greeted.

“This is my friend, John Watson and (Y/N) (Y/L/N),” Sherlock introduced the both of you.

“Friend?” the man asked

“Colleague,” John corrected as he and Sebastian shook hands.

You stammered a bit before saying, “Acquaintance,” as you shook hands.

“Right. Grab a pew. Do you need anything, coffee, water?” Sebastian asked the three of you. You all declined. “No? We’re all sorted here, thanks,” he told his secretary as all of you sat down.

“So you’re doing well. You’ve been abroad a lot,” Sherlock said.

“Well, so?” Sebastian asked

“Flying all the way around the world twice in a month,” Sherlock said. John furrowed his brows as he looked at him, but you just sat there.

“Right. You’re doing that thing,” Sebastian scoffed, “We were at uni together, and this guy here had a trick he used to do.”

“It’s not a trick,” you and Sherlock said at the same time.

“He could look at you and tell you your whole life story,” Sebastian continued.

“Yes, we’ve seen him do it,” John spoke, pointing and you and himself.

“Put the wind up everybody, we hated him.” Sherlock rolled his eyes at Sebastian. “We’d come down to breakfast in the formal hall and this freak would know you’d been shagging the previous night,” he said.

“I simply observed,” Sherlock replied.

“Go on, enlighten me. ‘Two trips a month, flying all the way around the world?’ You’re quite right. How could you tell?” Sebastian asked; but just as Sherlock was going to answer, Sebastian continued, “Are you going to tell me there’s a stain on my tie from some special kind of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan?”

John had a look of amusement on his face while you mentally rolled your eyes.

“No, I--” Sherlock started saying but was cut off.

“Maybe it was the mud on my shoes?” Sebastian asked.

“I was just chatting with your secretary outside,” Sherlock responded, “She told me.” John looked at him and you hid the smile on your face.

Sebastian laughed. “I’m glad you could make it over, we’ve had a break-in. Sir William’s office, the bank’s former chairman,” he said, getting to the point of their meeting. He showed you to the office. “The room’s been left here like a sort of memorial. Someone broke in late last night,” he explained.

“What did they steal?” you asked.

“Nothing. Just left a little message,” Sebastian said.

The four of you entered the office. The first thing you saw was graffiti. An eight-like symbol with a tick on the wall and a line straight through the painting.

Then, Sebastian showed us the security footage. “Sixty seconds apart. So, someone came up here in the middle of the night, splashed paint around and left within a minute,” Sebastian said.

“How many ways into that office?” Sherlock asked.

“Well, that’s where this gets really interesting,” he said as he took us to the front desk computer, “Every door that opens in this bank, it gets logged right here. Every walk-in cupboard, every toilet,” he explained.

“That door didn’t open last night?” Sherlock asked.

“There’s a hole in our security. Find it and we’ll pay you, five figures. This is an advance,” Sebastian took out a check from his jacket. “Tell me how he got in. There’s a bigger one on it’s way,” he said, handing the check to Sherlock.

“I don’t need an incentive, Sebastian,” Sherlock declined and walked away.

“He’s, uh… He’s kidding you obviously,” John said, already eyeing that check, “Shall I look after that for him? Thanks,” he said as Sebastian handed him the check. You face palmed at him and went after Sherlock.

 

When you arrived at the floor of the office, you saw Sherlock sliding from one part of the room to the opposite side and backing away until he entered another office. You followed him as he looked at the name on the door.

“Edward Van Coon,” you read and looked down the corridor and saw the graffiti in the other office. You looked back at Sherlock, “You think-- you know that was meant for him,” you stated.

Sherlock didn’t answer. He slide off the name and took it with him.

 

As you, John and Sherlock stepped off the elevator, leaving the building, John spoke, “Two trips around the world this month. You didn’t ask his secretary, you said that just to irritate him.”

“Of course he did,” you spoke and looked at Sherlock who had a smirk on his face.

“How did you know?” John asked.

“Did you see his watch? Sherlock said

“His watch?” you questioned.

“The time was right, but the date was wrong. It was set two days ago. Crossed the date line twice and he didn’t alter it,” Sherlock explained.

“Within a month? How did you get that part?” John asked as the three of you were going down the escalator.

“New Breitling. Only came out this February,” Sherlock answered.

“Okay. So do you think we should sniff around here for a bit longer?” John asked.

“Nope, got we needed,” you responded as you got off the escalator.

“That graffiti was a message. Someone at the bank, working on the trading floors. We find the intended recipient and…” Sherlock said.

“They’ll lead us to the person who sent it?” John asked.

“Obvious,” Sherlock said as you nodded.

“Well, there’s 300 people up there, who was it for?” John questioned.

“Pillars,” Sherlock simply said.

“What?” you and John asked.

“Pillars and the screens. Very few places you could see that graffiti from,” Sherlock started elaborating.

“That narrows the field of visibility,” you spoke.

“Yes, and, of course, the message was left at 11:34 last night. That tells us a lot,” Sherlock said.

“Really?” you asked.

“Traders come to work at all hours. Some trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night. That message was intended for somebody who came in at midnight,” Sherlock finished.

“Edward Van Coon,” you said the name, with a small smile on your face.

“Not many Van Coons in the phone book,” Sherlock replied as he held out the name tag.

~ ~ ~

The three of you arrived at the apartment building where Van Coon lived. Sherlock buzzed the doorbell, but no answer. He buzzed it again, but nobody answered.

“What do we do now?” you asked as you looked up at the building.

“Sit here and wait for him to come back?” John suggested as Sherlock did the same thing as you, then looked back down.

“Just moved in,” he said.

“What?” John asked as you looked at Sherlock.

“Floor above, new label,” Sherlock said as he pointed at the label.

“Could have just replaced it,” John spoke as Sherlock buzzed the doorbell. You agreed with John.

“No one ever does that,” Sherlock said before a woman answered the intercom.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hi, um, I live in the flat just below you. I don’t think we’ve met,” Sherlock pretended.

_ “No. Well, er, I’ve just moved in.” _

“Actually, I’ve just locked my keys in my flat.”

_ “Do you want me to buzz you in?” _

“Yeah, and can we use your balcony?” Sherlock asked.

_ “What?” _

 

You and John were waiting while Sherlock entered from the balcony. John buzzed on the doorbell.

“Sherlock?” he asked

“Sherlock, are you okay?” you asked, this time.

“Yeah, any time you feel like letting us in,” John sarcastically said, but unknowing to both of you, Sherlock found the body of Edward Van Coon.


	2. Chapter 2

“Do you think he’d lost a lot of money?” John asked as the three of you looked at the body and the police were investigating the flat. “I mean, suicide is pretty common among city boys,” he said.

“Wall Street Crash,” you commented.

“We don’t know that it was suicide,” Sherlock said as he went and kneeled down to look at Van Coon’s luggage.

“Come on. The door was locked from the inside, you had to climb down the balcony,” John beg to differ. You walked over to Sherlock.

“Been away three days judging by the laundry,” Sherlock thought out loud. He stood up and turned to John as you kneeled down and continued to look at the luggage. “Look at the case, there was something tightly packed inside it,” he said to John.

“Thanks. I’ll take your word for it,” John simply answered.

“Problem?” Sherlock asked as you got up and walked over to the two men.

“Yeah, I’m not desperate to root around some bloke’s dirty underwear,” John responded.

You softly cleared your throat, only to make Sherlock hear you. He turned to look at you. “You said there was something tightly packed, right?” you asked.

“Yes,” Sherlock answered.

“Okay,” you replied as you nodded your head, “Well……I would say drugs-- drug smuggling but… I don’t know much of that” you said, the two men looked at you. You sighed, “My mom made me watch shows-- documentaries-- with her while growing up, okay? Some of the stuff stuck with me.”

Sherlock looked at you interested before turning back to John, continuing, “Those symbols at the bank, the graffiti, why were they put there?” Sherlock walked over to the body, looking at it for any deductions.

“As some sort of code?” John responded.

“Obviously,” Sherlock said as he continued looking, “Why were they painted? Want to communicate, why not use e-mail?”

“Well, maybe he wasn’t replying ,” you said.

“Oh, good, you follow,” Sherlock looked inside the jacket on the body.

“No,” John said.

Sherlock looked at the two of you before continuing looking at the man’s hand, “What kind of message would everyone try to avoid? What about this morning? Those letters you were looking at?” he asked.

“Bills?” John asked as Sherlock opened the man’s mouth and pulled out a small origami piece.

“Yes. He was being threatened,” Sherlock said as you and John leaned in to take a closer look.

“Not by the Gas Board,” John said intently as Sherlock place the origami piece inside the evidence bag.

You heard a man’s voice coming into the room. The three of you turned to look at him.

“Sergeant, we haven’t met,” Sherlock walked up to the man and held his hand out.

“Yeah, I know who you are and I would prefer it if you didn’t tamper with any of the evidence,” the man said rudely.

Sherlock put his hand down and gave the man the evidence bag, “I phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way?” he asked

“He’s busy. I’m in charge. And it’s not Sergeant, it’s Detective Inspector Dimmock,” the man said and walked away. The three of you followed him to the living room. “We’re obviously looking at a suicide,” Dimmock said as he handed the bag over to another person.

“It does seem the only explanation of all the facts,” John said.

“Wrong, it’s one possible explanation of some of the facts. You’ve got a solution that you like, but you choosing to ignore anything you see that doesn’t comply with it,” Sherlock immediately said.

“Like?” Dimmock asked.

“The wound’s on the right side of his head,” Sherlock said.

“And?”

“Van Coon was left-handed,” Sherlock pointed out, “Requires quite a bit of contortion,” he said as he tries to move his left hand, in a gun position, to the right side of his head.

“Left- handed?” Dimmock asked.

“I’m amazed you didn’t notice, all you have to do is look around this flat. Coffee table on the left-hand side, coffee mug handle pointing to the left. Power sockets, habitually used the ones on the left. Pen and paper on the left hand side of the phone because he picked it up with his right and took down messages with his left. Do you want me to go on?” Sherlock asked arrogantly.

“No, no, I think you’ve covered it, Sherlock,” you answered before something happens. John agreed with you.

“I might as well, I’m almost at the bottom of the list,” Sherlock replied.

“No, Sherlock, don’t,” you spoke, but he ignored you.

“There’s a knife on the bread board with butter on the right side of the blade because he used it with his left. It’s highly unlikely that a left-handed man would shoot himself in the right side of his head. Conclusion, someone broke in here and murdered him, only explanation of all of the facts,” Sherlock continued.

“But the gun?” Dimmock asked

“He was waiting for the killer,” Sherlock immediately said.

“He’d been threatened,” you spoke after Sherlock

“What?” Dimmock questioned as Sherlock walked away putting on his coat and scarf.

“Today at the bank, some type of warning,” you answered.

“He fired a shot when his attacker came in,” Sherlock spoke.

“And the bullet?” Dimmock asked.

“Went through the open window,” Sherlock responded.

“Oh, come on,” Dimmock scoffed, “What are the chances of that?”

“Wait until you get the ballistics report,” Sherlock said as he put on his black gloves, “The bullet in his brain wasn’t fired from his gun, I guarantee it.”

“If his door was locked from the inside, how did the killer get in?” Dimmock asked

“Good, you’re finally asking the right questions,” the last thing Sherlock said before leaving. You and John awkwardly left too.

 

~*~

“Now, where are we going next?” You asked Sherlock.

“To tell Sebastian what happened,” Sherlock replied.

You looked at your watch and remembered you work today at the bookstore, making you stop walking. You looked at your watch again and saw you had 30 minutes before your shift. “Shoot! I almost forgot I work today!” you exclaimed, looking at the two men in front of you.

“You work today?” John asked.

“Can’t you take the day off?” Sherlock asked annoyed.

“No, I can’t, Sherlock!” you exclaimed as you hailed a taxi, “You guys’ll have to go without me,” you bid farewell and left.

 

You came back from work nearly at sundown, with a few new books you bought from the store. You headed upstairs and saw Sherlock putting pictures from the bank office he took today on the wall above the fireplace.

You could tell he was annoyed, a bit. “Things didn’t go well this afternoon,” you announced as you walked towards him.

“Everyone believes Van Coon committed suicide, but no one can see the facts that he was  _ murdered _ ,” Sherlock spoke as he continued putting up the pictures.

“Not everyone,” you replied as you stood next to him, making Sherlock stop and turn to you.

A smirk appeared on his face as he stood next to you, both of you facing the wall, and started explaining what happened in the afternoon.

 

~ ~ ~

The next day John came back from a job interview. You were on the phone, talking with your family. The two of you acknowledged each other and John headed upstairs. You ended the call shortly after and headed back upstairs.

“What? When?” John asked as you entered the flat.

“About an hour ago,” Sherlock said, looking intently at the papers on the wall, the symbols.

“Didn’t notice I’d gone out then?” John said as he tossed a pen at Sherlock.

“It happens fairly a lot,” you said. 

You and John walked closer to the wall. “I went to see about a job at that surgery,” John said.

“How was it? You and Sherlock asked.

“Great. She’s great,” John replied.

“Who?” Sherlock asked.

“The interviewer?” you asked with a suggestive smile on your face, after Sherlock.

“The job,” John said.

“She?” the two of you asked, the smile not leaving from your face.

“It,” John corrected himself , looking at you and Sherlock.

Sherlock rolled his eyes before talking again, “Yeah, have a look,” he said, motioning his head towards the computer next to him.

John went to the computer and looked at the news article on it. You already saw the news article before your family called. “‘The intruder who can walk through walls,’” John read.

“It happened last night. Journalist shot dead in his flat,” Sherlock said.

“Doors locked, window bolted from the inside,” you explained.

“Exactly the same as Van Coon,” Sherlock said, not looking away from the wall.

“God! You think…” John trailed off.

“He’s killed another one,” you and Sherlock spoke at the same time.

 

~*~

You, Sherlock and John went to Scotland Yard to talk to Inspector Dimmock.

“Brian Lukis, freelance journalist, murdered in his flat,” Sherlock said, showing him the article, “Doors locked from the inside.”

“You’ve got to admit, it’s similar,” John said.

“Both men killed by someone who can walk through walls,” you said, but Dimmock said nothing as he eyed the three of you.

“Inspector, do you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just another city suicide?… You have seen the ballistics’ reports, I suppose?” Sherlock asked. Dimmock simply nodded. “And the shot that killed him, was it fired from his own gun?” Sherlock asked again.

“No,” Dimmock  answered.

“No. So this investigation might move a bit quicker if you were to take my word as gospel,” Sherlock insisted. But still, Dimmock didn’t say anything and crossed his arms.

“We’ve just handed you a murder investigation,” you said frustrated as you and Sherlock leaned in.

“Five minutes in his flat,” Sherlock bargained.

~ ~ ~

The three of you were at Lukis’ flat, along with Inspector Dimmock. You and Sherlock looked around the flat. There were books everywhere; the both of you saw the same small piece of origami laying on the floor.

Sherlock looked out the window and smiled, “Four floors up. That’s when they think they’re safe. Put a chain across the door, bolt it shut think your impregnable,” he thought out loud.

“They didn’t think for one second there was another way in,” you finished Sherlock’s thought.

“I don’t understand,” Dimmock spoke.

“Dealing with a killer who can climb,” Sherlock answered as you followed him to another room, looking for another point of entry.

“What are you doing?” Dimmock asked.

“Clings to the walls like an insect,” Sherlock said as he opened the skylight window, “That’s how he got in.”

“What?”

“He climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof, dropped in through this skylight.”

“You’re not serious, like spider-man?” Dimmock asked.

“They were able to climb six floors of a Docklands apartment building, jumped the balcony and killed Van Coon,” you argued.

“Oh, hold on!” Dimmock scoffed.

“And of course that’s how he got into the bank. He’d run along within the ledge and on to the terrace,” Sherlock continued after you.

“We have to find out what connects these two men,” you said to Sherlock. And he agreed.

Sherlock looked at the books at the side of the stairs and one of them caught his attention. He opened it and saw the last place Lukis was.


	3. Chapter 3

You were at the West Kensington Library, having the book with you.

“Date stamped on the book is the same day that he died,” Sherlock said as the three of you went where the book was.

“So the symbols must be around here somewhere,” you commented as you started looking.

“Sherlock? (Y/N)?” John spoke. The two of you turned to him and helped him taking out books from the shelf. Seeing the same symbols painted on the shelf.

 

“So,the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cipher at the bank,” Sherlock explains as the three of you looked at the pictures above the fireplace, back at the flat.

“Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself in. Hours later, he dies,” you continued.

“The killer finds Lukis at the library, he writes the cipher on the shelf where he knows it’ll be seen. Lukis goes home,” John joined in.

“Late that night, he dies too,” you and Sherlock finished together.

“Why do they die?” John asked.

“Only the cipher can tell us,” Sherlock said as he closely looked at the picture.

 

~ ~ ~

“The world’s run on codes and ciphers. From the million pound security system at the bank to the pin machine you, John, took exception to. Cryptography inhabits our every waking moment,” Sherlock explain as the three of you walked on the streets of London.

“Yes, okay, but…” John trailed off.

“But it’s all computer generated, electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods,” Sherlock continued.

“And this is an old fashioned cipher. Modern methods won’t break it,” you spoke.

“Where are we headed?” John asked.

“I need to ask some advice,” Sherlock said.

You and John looked at each other, surprised at what Sherlock said.

“Sorry? What?” John asked.

“Sorry, Sherlock, we didn’t hear you correctly. Did you say  _ advice _ ?” you playfully asked.

“You two heard me perfectly. I’m not saying it again,” Sherlock replied, looking away from both of you.

“ _ You _ need advice?” you asked again.

“On painting. Yes, I need to talk to an expert,” Sherlock answered.

“I thought you were an expert on everything,” you commented, making Sherlock look at you and you smirked at him.

The three of you walked around a building to an alleyway. You saw a young man spraying graffiti on a door.

“Part of my new exhibition,” he said, holding two cans of spray paint.

“Interesting,” Sherlock mindlessly said as he pulled out his phone.

“I call it… Urban Bloodlust Frenzy,” as he continued his artwork.

“Catchy,” John commented.

“Nice,” you said, admiring the artwork.

“I’ve got two minutes before a Community Support Officer comes around that corner. Can we do this while I’m working?” he asked. Sherlock handed him his phone; the man tossed one of cans to John and took Sherlock’s phone. Looking at the pictures of the symbols.

“Know the author?” Sherlock asked.

“I recognize the paint. It’s like Michigan hardcore propellant. I’d say zinc,” the man said.

“What about the symbols? Do you recognize them?” you asked.

“I’m not even sure it’s a proper language,” he said, looking closely at the pictures.

“Two men have been murdered, Raz. Deciphering this is the key to finding out who killed them,” Sherlock explained.

“And this is all you’ve got to go on? It’s hardly much now, is it?” Raz asked.

“Oh, he’s gotten on with less,” you said.

“Are you going to help us or not?” Sherlock asked.

“I’ll ask around,” Raz replied as he handed back Sherlock his phone.

“Somebody must know something about it,” Sherlock said before two community officers appeared, like Raz said. Sherlock immediately grabbed your hand and ran off as did Raz, but not John.

“Seriously? We’ve just left John behind…  _ again _ !” you annoyingly exclaimed as you were already at the main road.

“Don’t worry he’ll be fine,” Sherlock simply said as you were now walking. You noticed till now that he hasn’t let go of your hand, but you didn’t mind it one bit. Sherlock looked at you then at your joined hands. He quickly let go of your hand and the two of you walked back to Baker Street.

 

As soon the two of got back, Sherlock started putting every ancient symbol he could find above the fireplace. Then, you heard the door slam shut and knew John came back.

“You’ve been a while,” Sherlock said to John, not looking away from the book in his hands.

John turned his head to Sherlock, “Yeah, well, you know how it is. Custody sergeants don’t really like to be hurried, do they? Just formalities. Fingerprints, charge sheet and I’ve got to be in magistrates’ court on Tuesday,” he spoke, clearly upset, as he slowly paced back and forth.

“What?” You and Sherlock asked. You, in shock, but Sherlock asked mindlessly.

“Me! In court, on Tuesday! They’re giving me an ASBO!” John exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh, John, I’m so sorry,” you apologized.

“Good, fine,” Sherlock mumbled dismissively.

“You wanna tell your little pal he’s welcome to go and own up anytime,” John said to him.

“This symbol, I still can’t place it,” Sherlock said as he put the book down and turned to you and John who was getting his coat off, only to put it back on, “No, I need you two to go to the police station ask about the journalist, his personal effects would’ve been impounded,” he said as he pushed you to the door, “Get hold of his diary or something that will tell us his movements,” he finished as he put on his coat and headed out.

“And where are you going?” you asked as you grabbed your coat off the hanger and put it on.

“Go and see Van Coon’s PA. If you retrace their steps, somewhere they’ll coincide,” he answered and walked away as you and John hailed a taxi.

“Scotland Yard,” you said to the driver as John noticed a women taking a picture of him for a split second before disappearing.

“Did you see that?” John asked as the two of you got in, looking at the direction where the woman was.

“What?” you asked, looking at him then at where he was looking.

John was about to say, but he brushed it off, “No, nothing,” he replied.

“You sure?” you asked as you looked back at him.

“Yeah.”

You looked at John intently before saying, “Okay,” in a half suspicious half unsure tone.

~ ~ ~

You arrived at Scotland Yard and asked for Lukis’ diary.

“Your friend…” Dimmock started saying as he looked for the diary.

“Listen, whatever you say, I’m behind you 100 percent,” John said.

“50 percent,” you spoke, making John look at you confused. But you just shrugged at him.

“He’s an arrogant sod,” Dimmock said.

“…Now that is true,” you replied, “very true.”

“Well, that was mild. People say a lot worse than that,” John spoke.

“Yes, they are very vocal about it,” you agreed as Dimmock held out a journal to you.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it? The journalist’s diary?” Dimmock asked as John took the journal.

“Uh, yes, yes, thank you,” you said as you and John left.

The two of you looked at the last few entries.

“It saids he headed to the West End and went to a store called… ‘Lucky Cat’?” you said and looked at John.

“Right, we better head over there too,” John replied as he hailed a taxi. As soon you arrived at the West End, both of you started looking for the store.

“I never liked having a diary,” you commented as you looked at the diary.

“You didn’t have one when you were young?” John asked.

“No, I had plenty of journals, but they were all empty. Why write your secrets and everything you do in a journal; when, one day, someone will find it and read it?” you said.

“Right,” was all John could simply say.

The two of you continued walking until someone bumped into you.

“Careful,” you said as John grunted. You looked at the person and it was Sherlock.

“Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died, whatever was hidden inside that case,” Sherlock immediately started saying to both of you, “I’ve managed to piece together a picture using scraps of information. Credit card bills, receipts. He flew back from China, then he came here.”

“Sherlock,” you and John spoke, but Sherlock continued speaking.

“Somewhere in this street, somewhere near. I don’t know where, but…”

“That shop, over there, Sherlock,” you said, you and John pointing at the shop.

Sherlock looked at the shop then at the two of you, “How could you tell?” he asked.

You held up the diary and pointed at it, “It saids it here,” you said, “Lukis’ diary. He wrote down the address.”

John agreed with you and walked to the store.

“Oh,” Sherlock simply said before you and him followed John.

 

The bell rung as you entered the shop. John greeted at the woman at the counter. You and Sherlock casually looked around at the merchandise.

“You want lucky cat?” she asked, making you and Sherlock turn around.

“No, thanks, no,” John replied to her, but the woman pointed at you and Sherlock.

“Want lucky cat?” she asked again.

“No, thank you,” Sherlock said.

“Oh, no, thank you though,” you politely declined.

“£10! £10!” she bargained as you continued to look at the merchandise.

“I think your wife, she will like,” she said to Sherlock.

You abruptly stopped looking, hearing what the lady said. You moved away from Sherlock to hide your blushing red face. While John softly laughed as he went to look at the small cups. He lifted one and looked at the price, it was the exact same as the cipher.

“Sherlock, (Y/N),” he called out. You and Sherlock walked over to him. “The label there,” he pointed at it.

“Yes, we see it,” Sherlock spoke softly.

“It’s exactly the same as the cipher,” John said.

“If this is the cipher?” you asked Sherlock.

Sherlock didn’t answer. He thought for a moment before leaving the store. You went after him while John placed the cup back and followed the two of you.


	4. Chapter 4

“It’s an ancient number system, Hangzhou. These days only street traders use it,” Sherlock explained.

“So those were numbers written on the wall at the bank and at the library,” you spoke as Sherlock walked towards a produce stand.

“Numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect,” he said as he looked through the price tags. You and John start to do the same thing.

“It’s a 15,” John said, “What we thought was the artist’s tag, it’s a number 15.”

“And the blindfold, the horizontal line. That was a number as well,” Sherlock said as he held up the price tag to the two of you.

“The Chinese number one,” you spoke.

“We found it,” John said in relief before spotting the same woman from Baker Street, disappearing after a split second.

 

The three of you entered a restaurant across from the store, sitting at the window.

“Two men, travel back from China, both head straight for the Lucky Cat emporium,” John spoke, “What did they see?”

“It’s not what they saw,” Sherlock said.

“It’s what they brought back in their suitcases,” you spoke in thought.

“And you don’t mean duty free,” John said to Sherlock as the waitress brought your food and John’s.

“Thank you,” you both said.

“Think about what Sebastian told us. About Van Coon, about how he stayed afloat in the market,” Sherlock told you.

“Lost five million,” John recalled.

“Made it back in a week,” you said after him.

“That’s how he made such easy money,” Sherlock said.

“He was a smuggler,” you and John said.

“I was right, sort of,” you said.

“I reckon he would have been perfect. Businessman, making frequent trips to Asia. Lukins was the same, a journalist writing about China. Both of them smuggled stuff about,” Sherlock explained.

“The Lucky Cat was their drop-off,” you finished.

“But why do they die?” John asked, “It doesn’t make sense, if they both turn up at the shop and deliver the goods, why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event, after they’d finished the job?”

“Their usefulness ended, tie up loose ends, maybe?” you suggested and continued eating.

“What if one of them was light-fingered?” Sherlock said.

“How do you mean?” John asked.

You swallowed your food and said, “Stole something.”

“Something from the hoard,” Sherlock said as realization came over John.

“And the killer doesn’t know which of then took it so he threatens them both, right,” John said as you and him continued eating.

“Remind me, when was the last time it rained?” Sherlock asked as he looked at the flat door next to the Luck Cat. He stood up and left.

You and John stood up and left, but you came back and took one more bite of your food and left again.

Sherlock kneeled down and looked at the Yellow Pages book, “It’s been here since Monday,” he said as he stood up and rang the doorbell. No one answered. Sherlock walked into an alleyway leading to the back of the flat.

You looked at the name, Soo Lin Yao, before following Sherlock and John was behind you.

“No one’s been at that flat for at least three days,” Sherlock said.

“Could have gone on holiday,” John said.

“Do you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?” Sherlock asked as he looked up where the flat would be. You and John looked up as well.

“Maybe they have a house sitter, but I think they don’t,” you said as Sherlock swung the stairs that lead to the window  down and he climbed up. You quickly went after him before the stairs swung back up. Before John could join the two of you, the stairs swung up and he went to the front door.

Sherlock went through the window. You heard something slide off and vaguely saw Sherlock catch it. 

“Someone else has been here,” Sherlock said.

“I’m right here, you don’t have to shout,” you said as you move aside the curtains.

“Somebody else broke into the flat and knocked over the vase, just like I did,” he said as he looked around the flat. You carefully entered through the window as Sherlock sniffed the laundry.

“Do you think maybe you could let me in this time?” you heard John say through the letterbox, “Could you not keep doing this, please?”

Sherlock opened the fridge and sniffed the milk, only to turn his head away from the smell.

“Milk gone bad,” you said as Sherlock put the milk back and closed the fridge.

“We’re not the first!” Sherlock shouted.

“What?” you heard John faintly say.

“Somebody’s been in here before us!” you shouted.

“What are you saying?” John asked.

You headed towards the stairs to let John in, hearing Sherlock thought out loud. Then, suddenly you felt a fabric around your neck, choking you. As you fought back, you looked around for something to knock over to alert Sherlock, but everything was out of reach. Before you could try to say anything, a hand covered your mouth. And the strangler dragged you from the top of the stairs to the entrance of the kitchen.

“Why didn’t he close the window when he left…” you heard Sherlock say.

_ Because he’s here, choking me, you idiot! Turn around! _

Your vision started fading and your strength was leaving you.

“Oh, stupid, stupid! Obvious. He’s still here,” you faintly heard Sherlock say before passing out.

The killer attacked Sherlock the same way he attacked you.

“Any time you want to include me…” John said through the letterbox.

“John,” Sherlock barely said, “(Y/N),” he groaned and from his peripheral vision he saw your unconscious body. As soon Sherlock stopped struggling, the killer let him go, put something in his pocket and quickly left.

Sherlock regained conscious and stood up, coughing and groaning. He reached in his pocket and took out the small origami piece, then he quickly went over to you. “(Y/N),” he said as he shook you, “(Y/N), wake up,” he patted your cheek and you started to stirred.

You opened your eyes and saw Sherlock above you. The first thing you did was hit him, “Were you so deep in your deduction that you could hear me getting choked?” you asked hoarsely as you sat up. Sherlock helped you stand up and the two of you went and opened the door.

“The milk’s gone off and the washing started to smell. Somebody left here in a hurry three days ago,” Sherlock said coarsely.

“Somebody?” John asked.

“Soo Lin Yao. We have to find her,” you said with a cough.

“How, exactly?” John asked as Sherlock picked up a piece of paper on the floor.

“We could start with this,” he said as you cleared your throat and the three of you started walking.

“You two gone all croaky. Are you getting a cold?” John asked the two of you.

“We’re fine,” you and Sherlock said with another cough.

 

The three of you headed to the National Antiquities Museum and asked for Andy.

“When was the last time that you saw her?” Sherlock asked in his normal voice.

“Three days ago. Umm, here at the museum. This morning they told me she’d resigned,” Andy said as Sherlock walked around, looking at the artifacts, “Just like that. Left her work unfinished.”

“What was the last thing that she did on her final day?” you asked as Sherlock walked back to you.

Andy lead you to the archives. “She does this demonstration for the tourists, a tea ceremony,” he said, “So she would have packed up her things and just put them in here.”

As the lights turned on, something captured your and Sherlock’s attention, a statue painted with the cipher.

 

“We have to get to Soo Lin Yao,” John said as the three of you left the museum.

“If she’s still alive,” you said softly.

Someone called out Sherlock’s name. The three of you turned to see who it was and saw Raz running towards you.

“Oh, look who it is,” John mumbled.

“Found something you’ll like,” Raz said and the three of you followed him.

He lead you to a place with walls covered in graffiti.

“You want to hide a tree, then a forest is the best place to do it, wouldn’t you say?” Sherlock asked.

“People would walk past it, not knowing,” you agreed.

“Unable to decipher the message,” Sherlock said after you.

“There, I spotted it earlier,” Raz said, pointing at a pillar with the remains of the cipher, the rest was painted over.

“They’ve been here. And that’s the exact same paint?” Sherlock asked Raz.

“Yeah,” he confirmed.

“John, (Y/N), if we’re going to decipher this code, we’re gonna need to look for more evidence,” Sherlock said.

“So, we split up?” you said, Sherlock nodded. “Okay, thank you, Raz,” you said as he left and you three split up.

 

After a few hours of looking, your phone started ringing. You answered the call and it was John, saying that he found more of the cipher. He told where he was, roughly. You went to look for him, but bumped into him along the way.

“Do you know where’s Sherlock?” he asked, “I’ve tried calling him, but he doesn’t answer.”

“Umm… no,” you answered and the two of you looked for Sherlock. You’ve called him a few times but, just like John, no answer.

“Answer your phone, Sherlock. We’ve been calling you,” you said as you and John found him.

“I found it,” John said panting and he lead you and Sherlock.

When you arrived at the place, you just found a blank wall.

“It’s been painted over,” John said, “I don’t understand. It was here. Ten minutes ago, I saw it. A whole load of graffiti.”

“Somebody doesn’t want me and (Y/N) to see it,” Sherlock said, then he went over to John.

“Sherlock, what are you--”

“Ssh! John, concentrate. I need you to concentrate. Close your eyes,” Sherlock said, grabbed both sides of his head.

“What? Why? Why? What are you doing?” John asked, confused.

“Sherlock, what are you doing?” you asked, pointing your flashlight towards them.

Sherlock moved his hands to John’s arm and started spinning him around, “I need you to maximise your visual memory. Try to picture what you saw. Can you picture it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” John said.

“Can you remember it?” Sherlock asked again.

“Yes, definitely.”

“Can you remember the pattern?”

“Yes.”

“Sherlock…” you called out.

“How much can you remember it?” he continued asking.

“Look, don’t worry,” John replied.

“Because the average human memory on visual matters is only 62 percent accurate,” Sherlock explained.

“Yeah, well, don’t worry, I remember all of it,” John spoke.

“Sherlock…” you spoke again, walking towards them.

“Really?” he asked.

John, then, moved away from Sherlock, “Yeah. Well, at least I would, if I could get to my pockets. I took a photograph,” he said as pulled out his phone and showed you the photo.

“That’s what I was about to say,” you said as you stood next to the two men.


	5. Chapter 5

The three of you came back to Baker Street and started to number the ciphers the rest of the night.

“Always in pairs, look,” Sherlock said, waking up John who just fell asleep and was sitting at the desk. You were also asleep, sitting across from John, with your head down. “Numbers. Come with partners,” Sherlock said.

“God, I need to sleep,” John spoke softly as he sat up straight, unintentionally waking you up too.

“Why did he paint it so near the tracks?” Sherlock asked as you rubbed your eyes, hearing Sherlock clearly.

“No Idea,” you said as you yawned and stretched.

“Thousand of people pass by there every day,” Sherlock continued saying.

“Just 20 minutes,” John spoke softly again.

“I agree,” you said to John.

“Of course. Of course, he wants information. He’s trying to communicate with his people in the underworld,”  Sherlock said.

“So, whatever was stolen they want it back,” you said tiredly.

“It’s somewhere here, in a code. We can’t crack this without Soo Lin Yao,” Sherlock said, taking off some of the pictures and left.

 

The three of you went back to the museum and talked with Andy again.

“Two men who travelled back from China were murdered and their killer left them messages in Hangzhou numerals,” Sherlock said.

“Soo Lin Yao is in danger,” you said.

“That cipher, it was just the same pattern as the others. He means to kill her as well,” John said.

“Look, I’ve tried everywhere, friends, colleagues. I don’t know where she’s gone. I mean, she could be a thousand miles away,” Andy said worriedly.

“What are you looking at?” John asked Sherlock, making you to turn and look at him.

“Tell me more about those teapots,” Sherlock said as he walked closer, looking at them intently.

“The pots were her obsession. They need urgent work. If they dry out, then the clay can start to crumble. Apparently, you have to just keep making tea in them,” Andy explain.

“Yesterday, only one of those pots were shining,” Sherlock said as you bend down looking closely.

“Now, there are two,” you said.

 

~ ~ ~

The three of you managed to stay after hours in the museum and wait. And later, the three of you found Soo Lin Yao.

“You saw the cipher. Then you know he is coming for me,” she said. You were sitting with her at her former work table.

“You’ve been clever to avoid him so far,” Sherlock said.

“I had to finish, to finish this work. It’s only a matter of time. I know he will find me,” Soo Lin said.

“Who is he?” you asked.

“Have you met him before?” Sherlock asked after you.

“When I was a girl, we met in China. I recognized his… signature,” Soo Lin said.

“The cipher,” you and Sherlock said.

“Only he would do this. Zhi Zhu,” she said his name.

“Zhi Zhu?” John asked.

“The spider,” Sherlock answered.

Soo Lin started untying her shoe and took it off, showing a black tattoo  on her heel. “You know this mark?” she asked.

“Yes. It’s the mark of the Tong,” Sherlock answered.

“Hmm?” John asked.

“What?” you asked.

“Ancient crime syndicate, based in China,” Sherlock said.

“Every foot soldier bears the mark. Everyone who hauls for them,” Soo Lin said.

“Hauls?” John asked

“…You were a smuggler,” you spoke.

“I was 15,” Soo Lin said as she put her shoe back on, “My parents were dead. I had no livelihood. No way of surviving, day-to-day, except to work for the bosses.”

“Who are they?” you and Sherlock asked the same time.

“They are called the Black Lotus. By the time I was 16, I was taking thousands of pounds worth of drugs across the border into Hong Kong,” Soo Lin explained, her eyes began to fill with tears, “I managed to leave that life behind me. I came to England. They gave me a job, here. Everything was good.”

“A new life,” you said with sympathy.

“And he came looking for you,” Sherlock spoke.

“Yes. I hoped, after five years maybe they would have forgotten me. But they never really let you leave. A small community like ours, they are never very far away,” she wiped away a tear, “He came to my flat. He asked me to help him to track down something that was stolen.”

“And you’ve no idea what it was?” John asked.

“I refused to help,” Soo Lin answered.

“You knew him well when you were living back in China?” you asked.

Soo Lin nodded, “Oh, yes. He’s my brother. Two orphans. We had no choice. We could work for the Black Lotus or starve on the streets like beggars. My brother has become their puppet. In the power of the one they call Shan, the Black Lotus general,” she explained, “I turned my brother away. He said I had betrayed him. Next day, I came to work and the cipher was waiting.”

Sherlock laid out the pictures of the cipher on the table, “Can you decipher these?” he asked Soo Lin.

“These are numbers,” she responded.

“Yes, we know,” you spoke.

“Here, the line across the man’s eyes, it’s the Chinese number one,” Soo Lin said.

“And this is 15,” Sherlock said.

“But what’s the code?” you and Sherlock asked.

“All the smugglers know it. It’s based upon a book--” Just as Soo Lin was about to show you the book, the power was cut off. You, John and Sherlock were alerted. “He’s here. Zhi Zhu has found me,” Soo Lin said softly.

Sherlock quickly ran out of the room to find Zhi Zhu.

“No, no, Sherlock!” you exclaimed, “Dammit,” you said under your breath and ran after him.

“Sherlock, (Y/N), wait!” John shouted.

 

You saw Zhi Zhu on the second floor just as you catched up to Sherlock. You yelled out his name a second before Zhi Zhu started shooting at Sherlock.

Sherlock ran back towards you, grabbed you and took cover from the bullets behind a grand structure. After a few shots, you and Sherlock ran to the second floor and went after Zhi Zhu. You followed him until Zhi  Zhu appeared behind you and started firing again. You and Sherlock quickly took cover by standing behind the columns.

“Careful!” Sherlock shouted, “Some of those skulls are over 200,000 years old, have a bit of respect!” The place suddenly fell silent. “Thank you,” he spoke again. Then the two of you noticed that there wasn’t another gunshot. You carefully stood away from your cover and noticed Zhi Zhu was gone, then Sherlock stood away from his spot.

“He’s gone,” you said as you turned around, facing Sherlock. “Soo Lin,” you spoke quietly with realization. You took off running back to where she was; Sherlock following after a minute. You ran faster when you heard a gunshot. You ran so fast that you barely saw John as you past him. Once you made it back, you were panting and looked for Soo Lin. You froze when you saw her body and the small origami placed in her hand. You covered your mouth with your hand as you stood there on shock.

“(Y/N)?” you heard John spoke softly as he stood behind you, seeing Soo Lin’s body.


	6. Chapter 6

The three of you were at Scotland Yard. Many emotions filled in you as the three of you saw Dimmock not paying a slightest attention to you; anger, shock, upset, sadness. They were filling you up, almost about to snap. Sherlock looked at you, seeing you clench and unclench your hands.

“How many murders is it going to take before you start believing that this maniac’s out there?” John asked Dimmock, frustrated.

Dimmock just merely muttered as he walked past the three of you. That’s when you snapped.

“ _ A young girl was gunned down tonight!!! Have you no heart or soul?” _ you shouted angrily as you faced him. John looked at you in shock from your sudden outburst as Sherlock grabbed your upper arm, holding you back. “That’s three victims in three days and  _ you’re _ supposed to be finding them,” you spoke angrily.

“Brian Lukis and Eddie Van Coon were working for a gang of international smugglers,” Sherlock spoke as he put you behind him and walked to Dimmock. John went over to you and calm you down as Sherlock continued, “A gang called the Black Lotus operating here in London right under your nose.”

“Can you prove that?” Dimmock asked.

The four of you headed to Barts. Sherlock and Dimmock headed to the morgue with Molly as John stayed behind, checking on you.

 

~ ~ ~

The three of you went back to Baker Street.

“Not just a criminal organisation,” Sherlock thought out loud as you went upstairs, “It’s a cult. Her brother was corrupted by one of its leaders,” he continued as he hanged his coat and scarf.

John sat in the red chair as you sat in the black one.

“Soo Lin said the name,” John said.

“Yes, ‘Shan’, General Shan,” Sherlock spoke as he walked around.

“We’re still no closer to finding them,” John commented.

“Wrong! We’ve got almost all we need to know,” Sherlock corrected.

“She gave us most of the missing pieces,” you spoke softly.

“Why did he need to visit his sister? Why did he need her expertise?” Sherlock started asking.

“She worked at the museum,” you answered.

“Exactly.”

“An expert in antiquities,” John answered after you, “of course, I see,” he softly spoke in realization.

“Valuable antiquities. Ancient Chinese relics purchased on the black market” Sherlock started explained, “China’s home to a thousand treasures hidden after Mao’s revolution.”

“The Black Lotus is selling them,” you stated.

 

Then, on the computer, Sherlock started looking through auctions for Chinese relics as you and John stood next to him.

“Check for the dates…” Sherlock said in thought as he looked at a relic.

“Here,” you pointed at the screen, “Arrived from China four days ago.”

“Anonymous,” Sherlock said after you, looking at the source in the sale information, “The vendor doesn’t give his name. Two undiscovered treasures from the East.”

“One in Lukis’ suitcase,” John spoke.

“And one in Van Coon’s,” you spoke after him.

Sherlock searched more antiquities that were sold at auctions. “Look, here’s another one. Arrived from China a month ago, Chinese ceramic statue sold, 400,000,” he said.

“Look, a month before that, Chinese painting, half a million,” John spoke as he pointed out another one.

“All of them from an anonymous source,” you commented before looking through Van Coon’s planner as John looked through Lukis’ diary.

“They’re stealing them back in China and one by one, they’re feeding them into Britain,” Sherlock softly said.

“Well, every single auction coincides with Lukis travelling to China,” John spoke.

“Or Van Coon’s,” you said after him.

“So, what if one of them got greedy when they were in China?” Sherlock asked.

“What if one of them stole something?” you spoke immediately after Sherlock.

“That’s why Zhi Zhu’s come,” John said before Mrs. Hudson knocked on the door and hooted, making the three of you turn to her.

“Sorry, are we collecting for charity, Sherlock?” she asked.

“What?” Sherlock spoke.

“A young man’s outside with crates of books,” Mrs. Hudson explained.

Sherlock let them in and the police officers brought in books from Lukis and Van Coon’s upstairs.

“So the numbers are references,” Sherlock said as he looked at the crates.

“To books,” John spoke.

“To specific pages and specific words on those pages,” you spoke, making John turn his head to you then back at Sherlock.

“Right. So…” John trailed off, “15 and 1, that means?”

“Turn to page 15,” Sherlock said.

“And it’s the first word you read,” you spoke after him.

“Okay, so what’s the message?” John asked.

“Depends on the book. That’s the cunning of the book code,” Sherlock replied.

“It has to be one that they both own,” you sighed, looking at the crates around you, “Great, this should be fun,” you softly said, sarcastically.

“Okay, fine. Well, this shouldn’t take too long, should it?” John said softly, like you, as the three of you picked a crate, opened it and started taking the books out.

Detective Inspector Dimmock came in the flat. “We found these at the museum. Is this your writing?” he asked, holding a bag to Sherlock, then to you and John.

“Er, we hoped Soo Lin could decipher it for us,” John answered as he took the bag and sat down at the small table.

“Anything else I can do?” Dimmock asked Sherlock, but received no answer, “To assist you, I mean.”

“Some silence right now would be marvelous,” Sherlock rudely answered.

You looked Sherlock, then at Dimmock and sighed. “We’re all good here,” you spoke kindly as you walked to him, “thank you… oh, and, um, sorry about my sudden outburst back at the station,” you apologized. Dimmock nodded at you and left.

Then, the three of you continued looking through the books. You found a few books that the two men had, but as you looked at the fifteen page and at the first word, it wasn’t promising. The three of you searched the whole night. Books were stacked on the table and on the floor when morning came. You heard John’s alarm go off and saw him sigh in exhaustion. You looked at him with a sad smile, then after a few minutes, you heard your alarm go off, surprising you. John looked at you as you turned off your alarm. You remembered that you work at the school today, making you softly groan.

You and John left and got ready for your jobs.

 

~*~

You arrived at the university, greeted the professor and got to work. Organizing papers alphabetically by last name, you mentally groaned as you checked in books that the students read and returned, went to the library to check if they had a film that was going to be viewed in class or confirm a class visit. As the day went on, you started getting exhausted and sleepy. You almost fell asleep as you graded small quizzes. When it was time for your break, you instantly fell asleep on the table in the staff lounge.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, softly waking you up. You sat up, rubbed your eyes and saw the professor you assisted, “Oh, Mr. Mcgeoch,” you spoke as a yawn developed, “Excuse me,” you said after you yawned.

“It’s alright, (Y/N),” he spoke as you stretched your arms.

You looked at your watch and saw it was beyond past your break; in fact, it was almost the end of your shift. You widen your eyes in shock, turned to Mr. Mcgeoch and started apologizing.

He told you it was fine as he sat in the chair next to you.

“I am so sorry, that is not like myself,” you sighed as covered your face with your hands.

“As I said before, it’s alright, (Y/N), there wasn’t much work for you after your break,” he told you.

“I didn’t get a good sleep last night,” you spoke.  _ Actually I didn’t sleep at all _ .

“Well, you should go, it’s the end of your shift,” Mr. Mcgeoch said as he stood up.

You confusingly agreed as you stood up, grabbed your things, said goodbye and left.

 

You fell asleep again in the cab ride back to Baker Street, a bit. You hanged your coat when you entered the flat. You went downstairs to your room and took a nap for half an hour before waking up to a text alert from Sherlock.

**_Come upstairs._ **

 

And you did come upstairs, “What is it?” you asked as you entered Sherlock’s flat and walked over to him.

“A book that everybody would own,” Sherlock spoke as you and him stood in front of the bookshelves next to the fireplace.

“Bible,” you spoke as you grabbed it from the shelf, “Dictionary,” you said as Sherlock grabbed it and he grabbed another book.

“Fifteen, entry one,” he said as he opened the dictionary and you opened the bible to the fifteen page. Sherlock saw the word ‘add’, disregarded it, opened the other book and saw the word ‘nostrils.’

Sherlock turned to you and you immediately said, “‘I,’” as you looked up from the bible and closed it.

He frustratedly ruffled his hair as John walked in, “I need to get some air. We’re going out tonight,” Sherlock spoke, not even acknowledging him.

“Actually, I’ve got a date,” John replied.

“Really?” you asked, happily.

“What?” Sherlock asked at the same time.

“Come on, Sherlock, it’s when two people who really like each other go out and have fun,” you explained, looking back at John with a smile. John agreed with you.

“That’s what I was suggesting,” Sherlock replied, looking at you, then at John.

“No, it wasn’t,” you and John spoke at the same time.

“A date requires  _ two _ people, Sherlock, not three,” you said, “Where are taking her?” you asked John.

“Er, cinema,” he replied.

“Dull, boring, predictable,” Sherlock spoke, making you roll your eyes at him. Sherlock walked over to John, “Why don’t you try this?” he asked, giving John a piece of paper, “In London for one night only.”

John laughed nervously, looking down at the paper, as you walked over to him and looked at the piece of paper.  _ Yellow Dragon Circus, _ it read. “Thanks, but I don’t come to you for dating advice,” John said to Sherlock.


	7. Chapter 7

You were laying down on the couch in your flat, reading  _ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy _ . Quietly laughing as you read the book. But your peaceful evening was interrupted when there was a knock at your door. You reluctantly placed the bookmark where you were, got up and went upstairs to answer the door.

“Where?” you sighed as you saw Sherlock standing at your door.

“A date,” he simply said.

You looked at him, puzzled, for a minute. Then, you started thinking, the circus, one night only, what you three were investigating, and you connected the dots. “I should’ve known,” you spoke softly as you closed your eyes, “So, basically, we’re going to crash John’s date tonight, aren’t we?” you asked, opening your eyes again. He just smirked at you. “Fine,” you gave in as you grabbed your keys, locked the door, grabbed your coat off the hanger by the door and left with Sherlock.

 

The two of you arrived at the building the circus was in and headed for the box office. You saw John with his date there and started feeling a bit guilty.

“Actually, I have four in that name,” you faintly heard the man at the box office say.

“No, I don’t think so, we only booked two,” John said to the man

“Then, I phoned back and got one for myself and (Y/N) as well,” Sherlock spoke as the two of you approached the couple, making them turn around. “I’m Sherlock and this is (Y/N),” he introduced the both of you, holding out his hand.

John’s date laughed awkwardly as she shook his hand and greeted the two of you. Sherlock greeted back quickly before grabbing your hand and walking away.

John confronted the two of you at the stairs, “You two couldn’t let me have just one night off,” he spoke upsettingly, clearly pissed.

“I’m so sorry, John,” you quickly apologized before Sherlock spoke over you.

“Yellow Dragon Circus, in London for one day. It fits,” he started explaining, “the Tong sent an assassin to England--”

“Dressed as a tightrope walker? Come on, Sherlock, behave!” John cut him off.

“Well, we are looking for a killer who can climb, who can shin up a rope,” you spoke calmly, making John look from Sherlock to you, “I mean, where else would we find that?” you asked.

“Exit visas are scarce in China,” Sherlock spoke hushly after you, “They need a pretty good reason to get out of that country. Now, all I need to do is have a quick look around the place.”

“Fine, you two do that. I’m going to take Sarah for a pint,” John said in a matter-of-fact before he turned around.

“I need both your help,” Sherlock spoke firmly.

John turned back around, facing the two of you, “I do have a couple of other things on my mind this evening,” he spoke lowly.

“Like what?” Sherlock asked, making you softly groan and put your hand on your forehead.

“You are kidding?” John spoke, backing away and widening his eyes in disbelief.

“What’s so important?” Sherlock asked in a hush tone.

You took your hand off your forehead, “Sherlock, he’s right in the middle of a date!” you softly exclaimed.

“You’re going to chase some killer while I’m trying to…” John trailed off.

“What?” Sherlock asked loudly.

“While I’m trying to get off with Sarah,” he replied loudly just as Sarah stood next to him, “Hey… ready?” John asked awkwardly as Sherlock rolled his eyes and went upstairs.

“Yeah,” Sarah replied, “So...is this a double date, then?” she asked you cheerfully, trying to lighten the awkward tension.

You laughed nervously, “W- Well...I, uh,” you stuttered, but just ending up nodding your head, seeing that you couldn’t come up with an answer.

The four of you were standing in the main area with the rest of the small audience. John and Sarah were standing in the front as you and Sherlock were behind them. You and Sherlock were looking around the room.

“You said circus. This is not a circus,” John spoke softly, “Look at the size of this crowd. Sherlock, this is...”

“Art,” you whispered, finishing John’s sentence.

“This is not their day job,” Sherlock replied back softly at the two of you.

“No, I’m sorry, I forgot. They’re not a circus, they’re a gang of international smugglers,” John softly remarked at Sherlock as the show was about to begin.

Music started playing as a woman in oriental clothing walked into the spotlight. She raised her hand and walked over to an object that was covered. The woman uncovered it, revealing a crossbow, then she took out a wooden arrow from a pack of them placed on the ground, and held it out to the audience, demonstrating it. She put the arrow in place and took out a feather from her headpiece. And place it in a bowl that was connected to the crossbow, firing the arrow into a piece of a wooden wall, meters away from it. The audience applauded as the arrow was removed from the wall. A man, wearing a mask, appeared and was chained to the wall.

“Classic Chinese escapology act,” Sherlock suddenly spoke, making the three of you turn to him, “The crossbow’s on a delicate string. The warrior has to escape his bonds before it fires,” he explained as John and Sarah turn back towards the woman.

“Like those acts that a person’s chained underwater and they have to unchain themselves before the timer runs out or, at least, before they drown,” you whispered to Sherlock as the woman placed another arrow in the crossbow. A cymbal crashes, scaring Sarah as she grabbed onto John’s arm, embarrassed, and making you flinch.

“She splits the sandbag, the sand pours out. Gradually, the weight lowers into the bowl,” Sherlock spoke again as the woman took out a knife and punctures a hole onto the bag, pouring the sand out, just like Sherlock said.

As the man started to escape from his bonds, Sherlock barely grabbed your hand, making you turn to him. He gave you a look that you knew he was going to look around the place. You nodded at him as he left and you turned back.

You applauded with everyone else when the man successfully escaped his bonds just before the arrow was fired. John turned his head back momentarily, only seeing you and not Sherlock. He gave you a questioning look, silently asking where’s Sherlock, but you just looked at him with a small smile and shrugged. John turned back as the equipment was removed from the performing area.

“Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant moonlit shores of the Yangtze River, we present, for your pleasure, the deadly Chinese bird spider,” the woman announced and walked away as an acrobat rolled down from two red ribbons that were joined as one.

_ That’s him _ , you thought as you watched the acrobat’s performance,  _ we found our killer _ . In the middle of the performance, you noticed that there was movement behind the curtains in the back. You looked switching from the curtain to the performance, then back again. A gut feeling was telling you that Sherlock did find something, but was in trouble. You slowly and quietly started to back away from John and Sarah, not wanting to get their attention, and started walking around towards the curtains. Then, you saw Sherlock getting pushed out of the curtains and saw the attacker jump from the stage. You ran and pushed the attacker away with all your strength as he was about to hit Sherlock. The attacker kicked you away. John was behind you and fought with him. Everyone fled out of the place as the fight happened. You stood up, saw Sarah with the wooden arrow in her hand and ran to her.

“Good idea,” you said as you took the arrow from her hands and hit the attacker with it multiple times, knocking him out. You dropped the arrow as Sherlock sat up, took of his right shoe and was the Black Lotus tattoo. You helped Sherlock up, seeing the tattoo as well.

Sherlock grabbed your hand as John grabbed Sarah’s. “Come on. Let’s go!” he spoke as the four of you got out.

 

~*~

The four of you were at Scotland Yard with Detective Dimmock.

“I sent a couple of cars. The old hall is totally deserted,” he spoke, walking to his desk with you behind him.

“We saw the mark at the circus,” you said.

“The tattoo that we saw on the two bodies, the mark of the Tong,” Sherlock spoke after you.

“Lukis and Van Coon were part of a smuggling operation,”John started speaking, “Now, one of them stole something when they were in China.”

“Something valuable,” you spoke.

“These circus performers were gang members sent here to get it back,” Sherlock continued.

“Get what back?” Dimmock asked.

You, John and Sherlock didn’t answer as you looked between yourselves.

“We don’t know,” John answered hesitantly.

“You don’t know?” Dimmock asked.

“We don’t know  _ yet _ ,” you corrected.

“Mr. Holmes, I’ve done everything you asked,” Dimmock started speaking as he sat down in his chair, “Lestrade, he seems to think your advice is worth something. I gave the order for a raid. Please tell me I’ll have something to show for it; other than a massive bill for overtime.”


	8. Chapter 8

You, Sherlock, John and Sarah went back to Baker Street and went upstairs.

“They’ll be back in China by tomorrow,” John softly spoke.

“No, they won’t leave without what they came for,” Sherlock spoke as he took off his coat and scarf and placed them on top of one of the crates, “We need to find a hideout, a rendezvous.”

You and Sherlock walked around the crates and stood in front of the fireplace.

“Somewhere in this message it must tell us,” you spoke in thought.

The three of you have forgotten Sarah as she looked around the flat, then at the wall with the pictures and looked a the three of you. “Well, I think perhaps I should leave you to it,” she spoke, feeling out of place, as you and John looked at her.

“No, you don’t have to go,” John said, wanting her to stay, as Sherlock spoke the opposite, at the same time. “He’s kidding. Please stay if you’d like,” John said to her.

“Yes, you are welcomed to stay,” you agreed with John.

Sarah looked in between John, you and Sherlock. “Is it just me or is anyone else starving?” she spoke with a soft smile.

You chuckled as Sherlock mumbled, “ _ Oh, God _ .”

You smiled at John and Sarah before you turned around, grabbed a random book from a crate and hit Sherlock on the arm with it.

Later, John looked around the kitchen for something to eat or prepare as Sherlock sat at the table in the living room, looking through pictures of codes and alphabets, you looking through books in the crates and Sarah looking at the wall above the fireplace.

“So this is what you do. You, John and (Y/N), you solve puzzles for a living,” she said to Sherlock.

You quickly went over to her and spoke before Sherlock did, “Consulting detective,” you kindly corrected.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he’s very touchy about that,” you whispered to her before going into the kitchen to help John. You saw him open a jar and sniffed it to check if it was good, but he jerked his head back in disgust.

“Any luck?” you softly asked as he closed the jar and placed it on the counter.

John looked at you as he stood up, “No, none at all,” he whispered.

“I think I have an idea,” you whispered as you headed for the kitchen door, “I’ll be back,” you spoke and left before John said anything. You headed downstairs and knocked on Mrs. Hudson’s door.

“(Y/N) dear, what is it?” she asked as she opened the door.

“Mrs. Hudson, I need your help. John had a date tonight, but it didn’t go as planned, so he brought her here. We were looking through the kitchen for something to eat, but there’s absolutely nothing,” you explained.

Mrs. Hudson understood. Unfortunately, she had nothing to prepare a decent meal, but enough to make an simple appetizer. You help her prepare it and went upstairs when it was ready.

You softly knocked on the kitchen door as you and Mrs. Hudson entered. John looked at the two of you relieved.

“We’ve done punch and a bowl of nibbles,” Mrs, Hudson whispered as she quietly placed the tray on the table and uncovered it.

“Mrs. Hudson, (Y/N), you are saints,” John quietly praised.

“If it was Monday, I’d have been to the supermarket,” she explained.

“Thank you. Thank you both,” John said.

You smiled at him before you went to the living room as Mrs. Hudson left.

“So, these numbers, it’s a cipher?” you heard Sarah asked Sherlock.

“Exactly,” he annoyingly replied.

“And each pair of numbers is a word?” Sarah asked as you stood next to her.

“How did you know that?” you and Sherlock asked at the same time.

“Well, two words have already been translated, here,” she answered as she pointed at the picture, showing both of you.

Sherlock grabbed the picture and stood up. He called John from the kitchen as you went and stood next to him, looking closely at the picture as well. “John, look at this,” Sherlock called out as he opened the evidence bag, “Soo Lin at the museum, she started to translate the code for us,” he continued as he took out the picture.

“We didn’t see it,” you said.

“‘Nine,’ ‘mill,’” Sherlock read.

“Does that mean millions?” John asked as he stood next to you, looking at the picture.

“Nine million quid,” Sherlock spoke in thought.

“For what?” you asked after Sherlock, in thought as well.

Sherlock folded the picture and headed towards his jacket, “We need to know the end of this sentence,” he said.

“Where are you going?” you and John asked as Sherlock put on his jacket and scarf.

“To the museum, to the restoration room. We must have been staring right at it,” Sherlock replied frustratedly.

“At what?” John asked.

“The book,” you spoke in realization, “the key to cracking the cipher.”

“Soo Lin used it to do this. Whilst we were running around the gallery, she started to translate the code. It must be on her desk,” Sherlock explained before he rushed out of the flat.

After a minute or two, the three of you engaged in small talk. You apologized to John and Sarah for crashing their date and they accepted your apology. You sat down in the kitchen, drinking punch and eating the bowl of nibbles as the three of you continued your small talk.

“I mean, well, quiet night in is just what the doctor ordered,” Sarah stumbled, “I mean I’d love to go out of an evening and wrestle a few Chinese gangsters, you know, generally, but a girl can get too much.”

“Okay,” John said with a smile as you quietly laughed.

You sighed before deciding to leave the couple alone, “Well, Sarah, it was nice to meet you,” you spoke as you stood up and shook her hand, “though I would’ve preferred it under different and better circumstances.”

“Of course, you too,” she replied with a smile and you returned one as well.

“Now, I will retire and leaving you two alone for the rest of the evening,” you announced, “Have fun,” you waved goodbye as you headed downstairs to your flat.

 

You plop down on your couch, grabbed  _ Hitchhiker’s Guide _ that was laying next to the lamp and continued where you left off. After some time reading, you heard the door knock upstairs, footsteps coming down to answer the door. You barely went back to reading until you heard something crash upstairs. You put your book down and head to your door. You heard muffled shouting as you barely opened the door, just enough for your eye, and saw men dragging an unconscious John out the door and Sarah who was struggling against her captors as they dragged her down the stairs. Your breath hitched in your throat as you saw the scene unraveling before your eyes. You immediately jumped into action as you rushed through your door and fought against one of the men who was taking Sarah away until someone hit you on the back of your head, making you black out.


	9. Chapter 9

_ “A book…garden, carried…pocket _ ,” you heard distorted as you started waking up. A sharp pain formed in the back of your head as you felt something wet run down on the back of your neck. As you started gaining more conscious, you found out you were tied to a chair and saw Sarah and John by your sides, Sarah to your left and John to the right. Sarah’s mouth was muffled, preventing her to make a sound or cry for help.

“Chinese proverb, Mr. Holmes,” you heard a woman speak. You turned your head to her and saw it was the woman from the circus earlier this evening. She was addressing to John.

“I’m… I’m not Sherlock Holmes,” John spoke confused.

“Forgive me if I do not take your word for it,” the woman said as she reached her hand inside his jacket and took out something.

“Th- Then take mine,” you hoarsely spoke, “He’s not Sherlock Holmes, he’s John Watson.”

“A cheque for £5,000 made out in the name of Mr, Sherlock Holmes,” the woman continued, ignoring you.

“Yeah, he gave me that to look after,” John spoke, short of breath.

“Tickets from the theatre collected by you, name of Holmes.”

“Yes, okay, I realise what this looks like,” John spoke lowly, “but I’m not him,” he looked at the woman.

“We heard it from your own mouth.”

You and John looked at her with your brows furrowed, “What?” both of you asked, confused.

“‘I am Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone because no one else can compete with my massive intellect,’” the woman quoted.

You sighed, “Christ, John, really?” you looked at him tiredly annoyed.

“Did I really say that?” John thought out loud, looking down at his lap, “I suppose there’s no use me trying to persuade you I was doing an impression,” when he looked up, John saw the barrel of a gun pointed at him. You struggled against your bonds when you saw the gun.

“I am Shan,” the woman introduced.

You looked at her in shock as did John.

“You’re…” he spoke.

“You’re Shan?” you asked.

“Three times we tried to kill you and your companions, Mr. Holmes,” Shan continued, “What does it tell you when an assassin cannot shoot straight?” she cocks the gun and pointed back at John who was stuttering.

You struggled, once more, against your bonds, but you could do anything except watch helplessly. John was breathing heavily was the gun clicked but nothing happened. You let out a breath you were holding as John was sighing.

“It tells you that they’re not really trying,” Shan spoke calmly. She inserted a magazine into the gun, “Not blank bullets now,” Shan said as she pointed the gun again at John.

“Okay,” John exhaled.

“If we wanted to kill you, Mr. Holmes, we would have done it by now. We just wanted to make you inquisitive. Do you have it?” she asked.

“Do I have what?” John asked in return.

“The treasure.”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” you spoke up, “He’s not Sherlock Holmes!”

“I would prefer to make certain,” Shan announced as one of the man standing behind her uncovered a crossbow, the same crossbow earlier. “Everything in the West has its price And the price for their lives, information,” she finished, referring to you and Sarah.

The rest of the men came over to the two of you. You started protesting before a cloth was place over your mouth like Sarah’s. The men carried you, with chair and all, over in front of the crossbow. Sarah was placed facing it and you were placed behind her, back to back.

“Where’s the hairpin?” Shan asked again.

“What?” John spoke breathlessly.

“The Empress pin valued at nine million sterling? We already had a buyer in the West and then, one of our people was greedy, he took it, brought it back to London, and you, Mr. Holmes, have been searching,” she explained.

“Please, please. Listen to me. I’m not…” John begged, “I’m not Sherlock Holmes. You have to believe me. I haven’t found whatever it is you’re looking for.”

“I need a volunteer or better yet two from the audience,” Shan announced as she did during the entertainment.

“No, please, please!” John exclaimed.

“Ah, thank you, ladies,” she said as she turned and went to you and Sarah, “Yes, you two will do very nicely,” she repeated what she did before; she took out a knife and punctured a hole in the sandbag. You barely saw what she did as you turned your head around as much as you could.

_ Sherlock what’s taking you so long?! _ You thought.

“Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant, moonlit shores of NW1, we present for your pleasure, Sherlock Holmes’ pretty companions in a death-defying act,” Shan continued as she walked over to you and finished speaking with a smile.

“Please!” John shouted.

Shan pulled out two black lotus origami pieces and placed one in Sarah’s lap and the other in yours. You looked at it, fear filling you, as you started thrashing around against your bonds. You didn’t want to die today. Tears slipped out of your eyes, from desperation

“You’ve seen the act before. How dull for you. You know how it ends,” Shan said to you, mockingly.

“I’m not Sherlock Holmes!” John yelled out.

“I don’t believe you,” Shan said as she faced John.

You shouted out Sherlock’s name, but it was muffled, given by the cloth. Then, you saw his figure at the entrance of the tramway. Immense relief washed over you.

“You should, you know,” you heard him speak, “Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him,” he quickly took cover when the sound of the gun cocks. “How would you describe me, John, (Y/N)? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?” he listed.

“Late?” you and John spoke as you saw one of Shan’s men walked over and looked for Sherlock.

“That’s a semi-automatic. If you fire it, the bullet will travel at over 1,000 metres per second,” Sherlock spoke about the gun Shan was holding.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well…” Sherlock started as he hit in the head of Shan’s man and returned to the shadows, “the radius curvature of these wall is nearly four metres. If you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone. Might even bounce off the tunnel and hit  _ you _ ,” he said as he quickly knocked over, putting out, one of the fire stands. Dimming the lighting of the area. Shan ran.

Then, Sherlock appeared in front of you and started undoing your bonds. You saw someone approach Sherlock and alerted him. But you didn’t alert him soon enough as a cloth was wrapped around his neck. You watched Sherlock struggling as you try to loosen more your bonds, now that it was partially undone. Suddenly, you heard the crossbow fired, but the arrow hit the man that was choking Sherlock, and fell dead to the ground.

Sherlock stood up, breathing heavily, as he unwrapped himself of the fabric. And you finally freed your hands and took off the cloth from your mouth. You and Sherlock saw Shan running away from the tramway.

Sherlock turned back to you. “It’s all right,” he said softly as he undid the rest of your bonds.

“What took you so long?” you spoke, taking deep breaths. You stood up, turned around and saw John laying on the floor, near the crossbow. You found out that he was the one that moved the direction of the crossbow as you and Sherlock undid Sarah’s bonds.

“You’re going to be alright,” Sherlock said as he removed the cloth from her mouth.

“It’s over now,” you said as you freed her hands. You could hear her crying as you freed her legs.

“Don’t worry. Next date won’t be like this,” you heard John say to her.


	10. Chapter 10

“Another blanket to keep,” you spoke, referring to the blanket wrapped around you, given by the police. A blanket was also wrapped around Sarah.

You, Sherlock, John and Sarah walked away as the police went into the tramway. You stopped at Sherlock’s side when he talked to Inspector Detective Dimmock, as Sarah and John continued walking.

“We’ll just slip off. No need to mention us in your report,” he told Dimmock.

“Mr. Holmes…” Detective Dimmock started saying.

“I have high hopes for you, Inspector,” Sherlock cut him off, “A glittering career.”

“I go where you point me,” he said as the two men came to terms.

Sherlock grabbed your hand and walked away with you, “Exactly,” he replied as the two of you continued walking. “Are you alright?” he asked you.

“Honestly…I’m still shaking from what happened,” you answered truthfully, “I thought I was going to die.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” Sherlock softly replied, making you look up at him.

“Why?” you asked, but Sherlock cleared his throat and kept on walking. “Sherlock, why?” you asked again as he let go of your hand and started walking faster. You smiled and laughed as you catched up with him and wrapped your hand around his arm. You could’ve sworn you saw a smile on Sherlock’s face as you two catched up with John and Sarah.

 

The next day, back at Baker Street, you and John were sitting at the kitchen table, looking at the picture of the cipher that Sherlock translated. As Sherlock himself was standing up serving you and John a cuppa.

“So, nine million,” John spoke as he read the code.

“Million,” Sherlock said at the same time.

“Yes, nine million,” John replied.

“For Jade pin dragon den black tramway,” you finished reading.

“An instruction to all their London operatives,” Sherlock explained.

“A message,” you continued, “what they were trying to reclaim.”

“What, a jade pin?” John asked the two of you.

“Worth nine million pounds. Bring it to the Tramway, their London hideout,” Sherlock spoke, pointing at the picture.

“Hang on, a hairpin worth nine million pounds?” John asked again.

“Apparently,” you and Sherlock replied.

“Why so much?”

“Depends who owned it,” Sherlock answered before drinking his tea.

 

Later on, you, Sherlock and John headed back to the bank.

“Two operatives based in London. They travel over to Dalian to smuggle those vases. One of the helps himself to something, a little hairpin,” Sherlock spoke as he walked towards the entrance.

“Worth nine million pounds,” you and John said.

“Eddie Van Coon was the thief, he stole the treasure when he was in China,” he stated.

“How?” you asked Sherlock.

“How do you know it was Van Coon, not Lukis?” John asked, “Even the killer didn’t know that.”

“Because of the soap,” Sherlock simply answered as he went through the doors.

 

~*~

You and John were at Sebastian’s office as he signed another check while Sherlock went to talk with Van Coon’s PA.

“He really climb up onto the balcony?” Sebastian asked in mild disbelief as he placed the check into an envelope.

“Nail a plank across the window…” John spoke.

“And all your problems are over,” you spoke after John. Sebastian looked between the two of you before he handed the envelope to John.

“Thanks,” he replied as you heard someone shout,  _ nine million _ .

 

~ ~ ~

“Over a thousand years old and it’s sitting on her bedside table every night,” John said as the three of you were back at Baker Street, sitting at the living room table.

“He didn’t know its value,” Sherlock spoke as continued looking at the newspaper in his hands.

“Didn’t know why they were chasing him,” you spoke up, not looking up from your book.

“Should’ve just got her a lucky cat,” John said.

You and Sherlock flashed John a smile, “Mmm,” the two of you agreed.

John placed his elbows on the table and interlocked his hands, “You mind, don’t you?” he asked.

“What?” Sherlock replied.

“That General Shan escaped,” you spoke, continuing John’s thought, as you momentarily closed your book. You saw Sherlock tense up.

“It’s not enough that we got her two henchmen,” John continued.

“Must be a vast network,” he replied to the two of you, “Thousands of operatives. The three of us, we barely scratched the surface,” as he opened the newspaper  to the next page.

“You cracked the code though, Sherlock,” John reminded, “and maybe Dimmock can track down all of them now that he knows it.”

“No,” Sherlock answered.

“He cracked this code, now all they have to do is to pick up another book,” you answered after him as Sherlock went back to reading the newspaper and you opened your book and continued reading. 

John looked out the window and saw a man looking around him before he spray painted a cipher, that the three of you could easily look at from the window, and left.


End file.
